• iOS Devices
• Hardware
• Tesla
• Jim-keller-tesla

Tesla hires the guy who pioneered Apple A-series processor line

From Electrek:

We’ve learned that Tesla this month quietly hired high-profile microprocessor engineer Jim Keller as Vice President of Autopilot Hardware Engineering. Tesla today confirmed the news and sent us the following statement:
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• 9to5Toys
• Tips and Tricks
• Christmas
• last-minute deals
• email gift cards

9to5Toys Christmas bailout: last-minute deals on Apple products and email gift cards (in time to get under the tree)

You blew it. It’s Christmas Eve and you didn’t get your friend/colleague/ loved one a present. Don’t worry, the 9to5Toys team has put together some last second options which will get you some great gifts and still save you some money. In fact, if you play your cards right you might still save a lot of money.

Still get delivery
If you live in  16 metro areas in the US, Amazon will deliver a million items in about an hour. It is like Pizza, except for Christmas presents. Categories include: Health & Personal Care, Books, Electronics, Home, Beauty, Office Products, Kitchen and Toys so there’s probably a gift for everyone in there. Of course, we’d recommend the Apple at Amazon Store within a Store. 

Brick and Mortar:
If you are like me and don’t live in one of these locations, you can always do the cave man option and head to a store. Most are open at least part of the day. Target has a Retina iPad Mini 2 for $194, the lowest price we’ve ever seen and $5 less than Walmart’s previous record low on an Apple tablet. If you are looking for a new Apple TV and Radio Shack still exists in your area, you can pick one up for $120 and it includes an HDMI cable, one of the best deals we’ve seen this year. And Best Buy is still discounting nearly every Apple product by at least $100. If you live in New York (or can trade tax for being a few days late), B&H still has the best deals on Apple Watches

Gift Cards!
Your best option at this late hour is usually a gift card, though we’ve found some ways to save even at this late date. Amazon is always the place to go and this year is no exception. The Online retail giant is discounting a bunch of email gift cards for restaurants and apparel retailers by 20% including Steak ‘n Shake, Aerie, Hooters, and others. Just use the specific coupon code from this deal page to save. Example: Get $5 off a $25 Famous Footwear gift card with coupon code SNSHAKE5 at checkout.

You can also save on email gift cards from PayPal’s eBay store. Top picks include a $100 Toys R Us for $90, $50 Skype for $35, $50 Lord & Taylor for $40, $25 iHop for $20, $50 Sephora for $45, and more. PayPal usually sends these gift cards within a few hours. Best Buy will give you a $10 savings code with the purchase of a $150 gift card.

And the fail-safe: Everyone loves to receive Amazon gift cards. Send one instantly via email or Print one out.

For Apple folks, you never go wrong with iTunes gift cards. Get some delivered in minutes from eBay using Paypal or Credit Card in $25, $50 or $100 denominations. Apple will also email you iTunes cards in any denomination.

• Apple TV
• Apple News
• Amazon
• Google
• Yahoo

Apple, Google among streaming providers NFL is expecting to bid on Thursday Night Football

The NFL is said to be looking at Apple, Google, Amazon and Yahoo as platform partners for streaming its Thursday night football games according to SportsBusinessDaily:

The league also sent RFPs to several digital companies, like Google, Yahoo, Apple and Amazon, to stream the entire Thursday night schedule on a non-exclusive basis, sources said. The league’s initial plan would have the digital streams serve as a simulcast of the television production — with the same ads and in-game production features. The league expects bidding to start in the low $300M for the television package, with a nominal escalator in year two, sources said.

Yahoo, who is expected to bid, paid $15M to exclusively stream one game this season according to the report so the deal would be a big one. Because the streaming deal would be non-exclusive, the prices would be much lower on a per-game basis. More importantly, the deal would hopefully be the first step into the much larger goal of streaming the whole NFL Season.

Apple TV got the Game Pass service featuring live preseason football games on updated NFL app just four months ago, and now has tvOS as a platform to expand on that.

We know Tim Cook likes his Auburn football and SVP Eddy Cue is a big sports fan so…

• Feature
• Apple Watch
• Apple TV
• iOS Devices
• iPhone
• Apple News

Apple Black Friday Gameplan – knock out holiday shopping quickly, save tons of cash

Update: We’ve got hundreds of items in our Apple Black Friday Mac/iPhone/iPad accessories and software guide

As the Thanksgiving turkey and wine buzz starts to wear off and we head into the pinnacle of American consumerism known as Black Friday, we here at 9to5Mac have some tips which should make the shopping experience pleasant, efficient and productive. Over the next 24 hours, everything Apple related will be at the lowest prices of the year. We’re going to guide you to getting in, saving a bunch of cash and getting on your way.

First some don’ts:

• Don’t for any reason actually go to a physical store. The 2-3 $150 50″ Best Buy TVs per store isn’t worth being in the vicinity of Black Friday shoppers and the “Door Busting”. It’s a nightmare out there. Go to a park. Play with your kids. Spend a few minutes with us and we’ll knock out that gifting.
• Don’t actually buy anything online until Black Friday. Prices keep dropping in the runup to Black Friday. Wait. Enjoy the time with your family, watch some football. If you must, grab some small ticket items and get those out of the way. If you miss something, it will likely be around again on “Cyber Monday”.
• Don’t buy anything at an Apple Store or Apple.com. Apple has outsourced Black Friday to their retail partners and have normal prices across the board. The stuff you buy at Target/Best Buy/Walmart/Amazon/etc.com is the exact same product and warranty you get at Apple. Pro-Tip: Apple Stores are for showrooming and repairs.
• Don’t touch that dial. Stick with us here at 9to5Mac, 9to5Google and most importantly 9to5Toys for all of the best deals. Heck, now’s the time to subscribe to 9to5Toys Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications. We’ve got a team of 20 people scouring the web for the best deals out there and tomorrow it is going to come fast and furious.

As for Apple products, we’ve distilled the absolute best deals out there into just a few options. Important considerations include state tax at time of purchase, gift cards vs. actual savings, shipping and rewards. Also, AppleCare discounts. Here’s the quick rundown:

Apple Watch

Target, B&H and Best Buy in the US have the biggest discounts we’ve seen this year. Best Buy will knock off $50 on Sport and $100 on Stainless. Target gives you a $100 gift card on both models which is of course good for an additional 5% cash back using their RedCard. Both sites charge tax in all 50 states but offer free shipping.

However, the best option might be B&H Photo which offers the Apple Watch in fewer varieties than Best Buy but for the same $50 off Sport/$100 off Stainless. In addition, B&H throws in a $50 gift card, B&H only charges Tax in New York State which may save you big money.

B&H Photo:

• Sport 38mm: starts at $299 (Reg. $349) +$50 gift card
• Sport 42mm: starts at $349 (Reg. $399) +$50 gift card
• Stainless Steel 38mm: starts at $449 (Reg. $549) +$50 gift card
• Stainless Steel 42mm: starts at $499 (Reg. $599) +$50 gift card

Best Buy:

• Sport 38mm: starts at $299 (Reg. $349)
• Sport 42mm: starts at $349 (Reg. $399)
• Stainless Steel 38mm: starts at $449 (Reg. $549)
• Stainless Steel 42mm: starts at $499 (Reg. $599)

Target:

Apple Watch Sport starts at $349 and comes with a free $100 Target Gift Card. Use your REDcard to save an additional 5% and your effective net cost is just $231.55. That’s the lowest price we’ve seen on new Apple Watches. Target will throw in the free gift card on any in-stock Apple Watch.

Apple TV

Target has the New Apple TV for ~$50 off in store but those prices will likely hit retailers like Walmart ($112) tomorrow. HHGregg also is expected to have some availability on Black Friday at reduced cost. Staples has $25 off if you checkout with Visa Checkout. The 3rd Gen Apple TV is $50 in a number of places and $40 Geek squad refurb at Best Buy. Stay tuned.

iPods

For those of us that still love the iPod touch, there are a few nice deals around. Best Buy cuts $50 across the board, Target cuts $40-$60 and Walmart cuts $35.

iPhone

iPhones with plans from the major US carriers are marked down significantly in a number of retail outlets

• Boost Mobile No Contract iPhone 6s for $549 | Boost
• All iPhones $100 off + $100 Black Friday Gift Card | Walmart
• iPhone 6s/Plus $200 Gift Card w/ iPhone 5 (or newer) trade | Best Buy
• iPhone 6s/Plus, get a free $250 Gift Card (installment plan) | Target
• iPhone 6s/Plus 16GB/64GB $50 off (2-yr contract) | Target
• iPhone 6S 64GB (all colors): $719 (Reg. $749) | eBay
• iPhone 6S Plus 64GB (all colors): $819 (Reg. $849) | eBay

iPad

iPad Air/2

• Any iPad Air 2, get a free $150 Gift Card | Target
• iPad Air 2 16GB/64GB $100 off, 128GB $125 off | Best Buy
• iPad Air 2 16GB WI-Fi (Gold): $399 (Reg. $499) | Walmart
• iPad Air 2 16GB Wi-Fi: $374 (Reg. $499) | Staples
• iPad Air 2 64GB Wi-Fi: $449 (Reg. $599) | Staples
• iPad Air 2 64GB/128GB Wi-Fi + Cellular $175 off | Sam’s Club
• iPad Air 2 64GB/128GB Wi-Fi $150 off | Sam’s Club
• Any iPad Air, get a free $100 Gift Card | Target
• iPad Air 16GB Wi-Fi: $349.99 (Reg. $399) | HHGregg

iPad mini 2/3/4

• iPad mini 2 16GB Wi-Fi: $199 (Reg. $269) | Walmart
• Any iPad mini 4, get a free $100 Gift Card | Target
• iPad mini 4 16GB Wi-Fi: $299 (Reg. $399) | Staples
• iPad mini 4 64GB/128GB $100 off | Best Buy
• iPad mini 4 64GB Wi-Fi: $450 (Reg. $499) | eBay
• Any iPad mini 2, get a free $80 Gift Card | Target

iPad Pro

• All iPad Pros $12 off at MacMall, Tax in only a handful of states
• 32GB iPad Pro: $749.99 ($50 off)| Buy.com tax in a few states

Macs

Mac prices and inventory will fluctuate wildly on Black Friday. Best Buy gives an extra $50 off to students on iMacs and MacBooks

Retina 12-inch MacBooks are now widely available in Gold, Silver and Space Gray. The best prices as of this writing are:

• $150 off the 1.1GHz/8GB/256GB at Amazon, Best Buy
• $170 off the 1.2GHz/8GB/512GB without tax at B&H and eBay
• $100+ off configured at MacMall including 1.3GZ models.

MacBook Airs: B&H are running the table as of this writing with $120 off across the board, Tax only in New York and 6 months of Parallels Access but things will likely change – stay tuned.

• 11.6-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB: $180 off ($729) at Ebay, $120 off at Best Buy and Amazon: $779, B&H (Tax in NY Only) $100 off: $799
• 11-inch 4GB/256GB: $979 ($120 off at B&H)
• 13-inch 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB:$150 off at Amazon $850,  $879 ($120 off at B&H)
• 13-inch 1.6GHz/4GB256GB: $1,079 ($120 off at B&H)

MacBook Pro

B&H is leading the way with $150-$500 off 13-inch MacBook Pros and $200-$500 off 15.4-inch MacBook Pros. We expect to see some lower prices at eBay and other locations through the day.

iMacs

The entry level iMac is a whopping $200 off at Best Buy ($899) and with the .EDU  credit drops down to $850 shipped. After that B&H is leading the way with at least $100-$300 off on standard models and MacMall leads the way on custom configs. We’ve heard whispers that a retailler is going to do some serious price drops so we’ll post those when they happen.

Mac mini:

B&H takes $50 off the base model which now starts at $449 and $70 and $100 off the higher models. Other places take off less but will likely drop prices tomorrow.

Mac Pros:

Again, B&H has the lowest base model price and most of the configurations along with MacMall.

The above prices and inventory will likely be all over the place on Black Friday so we’ll be updating frequently. Thanks again for joining us for Black Friday 2015.

• Apps
• Mac
• iOS Devices
• Tips and Tricks
• app

A bundle of Mac App Bundles, more than 50 total apps over 90% off

From 9to5toys.com:

As we approach Black Friday we are at the Nexus of the Mac application bundle universe with not 1, not 2, but 3 impressive Mac Bundles happening at the same time.

First up is MacHeist’s “Hall of Fame Bundle” which includes greats such as TechTool Pro, Graphic Converter, Stuffit Deluxe, Nisus Writer Pro, Poser, Fetch FTP and more for $15 (or choose the bottom row for “Name your own price”. This one has sold over 10,000 copies but ends in a day so you might want to get hopping.

Next up is Bundlehunt which costs a little more but they let you pick out any 10 of a selection of 30 apps which I love as a concept. This includes ForkLift, Pixa, Flux V, RapidWeaver, Boom 2, Secret Folders Pro, Jump Desktop + 23 great Mac apps. Even if you only need a few of these, the $19.99 price tag means you are getting a steal.

And finally probably the most impressive array of apps is from our own specials.9to5toys.com which using $5 code 9TO5BFMB at checkout drops the bundle price down to $34.99. A great price for most of these Mac Apps on their own. PDF Pen, Aftershot Pro 2, Drive Genius, Mixtape Pro, MacXDVD Ripper, Busy Contacts, Prizmo 3, Motion Composer and more.

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• AAPL Company
• iPhone
• Apple Inc
• AT&T

Video demonstrates using 3D touch screen iPhone 6s to weigh objects, opens up new use cases

Developer Simon Gladman today demonstrated (via Jeff Benjamin) the use of the iPhone 6s display as a way to compare weights of an object, here denoted in a percentage of touch, on Apple’s 3D or Force Touch display.

The app called “Plum-O-meter” for obvious reasons is currently a jailbreak option for tinkerers. I think it is unlikely that this will hit the Official App Store because it likely makes private API calls to acquire the data. However, it does show yet another device the iPhone could one day replace. Full video follows.

Update: Huawei, which announced a “Force Touch” phone a few weeks before Apple, has a scale app on their phone. Hadn’t seen this, where’s the App Store app then?

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta6beOvyhYE&start=95]

 

• AAPL Company
• Apple News
• Twitter
• Apple Inc
• Microsoft

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer calls 1997 investment saving Apple “craziest thing we ever did”

In a Bloomberg interview this morning former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spent some time discussing competition with Amazon for talent in Seattle and then moved on to Apple and Tesla.

With regard to Apple, Ballmer first said that Apple has “done a good job” and took credit for saving Apple with an investment in 1997 when Steve Jobs returned – which was part of a patent lawsuit over Windows 95/stolen Quicktime code. Ballmer went on to describe the investment this way: “In a way you could say that was the craziest thing [Microsoft] ever did.”

Ballmer then moved to the current landscape where he said that Microsoft is the only company (in addition to Samsung) really competing with Apple with its SurfaceBook in a new category.

Ballmer currently is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team and now owns around 4% of Twitter stock. The relevant clip can be found here with Apple conversation starting halfway through.

 

• Apps & Updates
• Apps
• Ultimate Ears
• UE
• Block party

Popular Ultimate Ears (UE) Bluetooth speakers get new ‘Block Party’ sharing feature

We’re big fans of the Ultimate Ears lineup of speakers from the $89 Roll (review), to the $199 Boom 2 (review) and the huge $299 Megaboom (review). Today the company announced a new firmware and software update feature which allows multiple iPhones and Android apps to share music on one speaker or a set of paired speakers. Called ‘Block Party”, it seems like a great way to let party goers share their music on one device. I’ve had a working speaker and apps for about 24 hours and the feature seems to work in a simulated environment (hard to get a party going on a Monday afternoon).

Losing control of your speaker seems like the only downside to this new feature from Ultimate Ears which will roll out on 3 of their devices today.  Press release follows:
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• AAPL Company
• iOS
• iPhone
• Reviews
• iPod touch

Quick Review: OLALA Apple-Certified MFi 6000mAh battery is a convenient iPhone charger for $24

 

We’ve been using the Apple-Certified OLALA MFi iPhone/iPad charger for almost a month. It is an iPhone-sized battery with a built-in Apple Certified Lightning cable which can be extracted from the battery. The plug is at a 90-degree angle which allows for easy charging in a bag or pocket.

The specs to know on this one are:

• 5V 2.4A  (12W) output meaning the charge is about as fast as can be taken by an iPhone or iPad
• 6000mAh Capacity  meaning it has enough battery to last up to 2 full iPhone charges (or 1 iPad Mini)
• It also has a second USB port to charge a second phone or any other device that charges via USB
• It charges via Micro-USB cable- included.
• 4 LEDs indicate power level
• Dimensions: 127.5×63.5x14mm Weight: 146g
• Comes with 30-day money back guarantee, and 1 full year warranty

Without attempting to be anti-climactic, OLALA does what it says. It always has an iPhone’s worth of charge ready for you when you need it. That Mifi Lightning cable being built in sure does come in handy and the L-shaped retractable tip makes charging super-simple.

Use 9to5mac‘s exclusive $6 off coupon code BL3UY33F to purchase one at $23.99 with free shipping at Amazon. If you don’t have free Prime shipping, you need to pad your order to over $35 otherwise you’ll get tagged with your $6 back in shipping.